Japan will act again to curb yen's rise
By Kaori Kaneko and Tetsushi Kajimoto |
March 23, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPAN warned markets yesterday it would act again to keep the yen in check and prevent its rapid gains from derailing Tokyo's effort to rebuild areas ravaged by this month's deadly earthquake and tsunami and revive the struggling economy.
In their first joint intervention since 2000, the Group of Seven rich nations sold the yen on Friday after it spiked to record highs, threatening to deal another blow to the export-reliant economy that was just picking up from a lull when the disaster struck.
"We will cooperate as appropriate while closely watching market movements," Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said after a cabinet meeting.
The yen traded around 81 to the dollar, well off last week's record high of 76.25, and analysts said the 80-80.85 range could serve as a floor for the greenback. Noda said he would not comment on any specific levels when asked about market's reaction to the intervention.
The yen's strength, driven by talk that Japanese firms will bring back their overseas investments to fund Japan's biggest reconstruction push since the post-World War II period, is just one of Tokyo's concerns.
The authorities are also racing to avert a disastrous meltdown at a quake-crippled nuclear plant while rushing humanitarian relief to the country's northeast, where the March 11 quake and tsunami wiped out whole communities, leaving at least 21,000 dead or missing and more than 350,000 homeless.
There are no official estimates yet, but Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano told Reuters last week the total economic impact could exceed 20 trillion yen (US$247 billion).
The government may pass two or more extra budget with the first batch possibly in April or May, even before official damage estimates are ready, the ruling party's secretary-general, Katsuya Okada, said.
"At this stage, there's no way for us to have an estimate of how much the cost of reconstruction would add up to. Therefore, it will be focused on urgent measures," Okada said.
He added another more comprehensive emergency budget could be drafted later once the scale of the devastation is clearer.
The enormity of the task prompted Prime Minister Naoto Kan to invite the leader of the main opposition party to join the cabinet as his deputy in charge of disaster relief.
The offer was swiftly rejected, but yesterday Yosano renewed the offer, saying Japan should form a grand coalition to cope with the crisis.
In their first joint intervention since 2000, the Group of Seven rich nations sold the yen on Friday after it spiked to record highs, threatening to deal another blow to the export-reliant economy that was just picking up from a lull when the disaster struck.
"We will cooperate as appropriate while closely watching market movements," Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said after a cabinet meeting.
The yen traded around 81 to the dollar, well off last week's record high of 76.25, and analysts said the 80-80.85 range could serve as a floor for the greenback. Noda said he would not comment on any specific levels when asked about market's reaction to the intervention.
The yen's strength, driven by talk that Japanese firms will bring back their overseas investments to fund Japan's biggest reconstruction push since the post-World War II period, is just one of Tokyo's concerns.
The authorities are also racing to avert a disastrous meltdown at a quake-crippled nuclear plant while rushing humanitarian relief to the country's northeast, where the March 11 quake and tsunami wiped out whole communities, leaving at least 21,000 dead or missing and more than 350,000 homeless.
There are no official estimates yet, but Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano told Reuters last week the total economic impact could exceed 20 trillion yen (US$247 billion).
The government may pass two or more extra budget with the first batch possibly in April or May, even before official damage estimates are ready, the ruling party's secretary-general, Katsuya Okada, said.
"At this stage, there's no way for us to have an estimate of how much the cost of reconstruction would add up to. Therefore, it will be focused on urgent measures," Okada said.
He added another more comprehensive emergency budget could be drafted later once the scale of the devastation is clearer.
The enormity of the task prompted Prime Minister Naoto Kan to invite the leader of the main opposition party to join the cabinet as his deputy in charge of disaster relief.
The offer was swiftly rejected, but yesterday Yosano renewed the offer, saying Japan should form a grand coalition to cope with the crisis.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
